What are Pesticides?
Pesticides are chemical or biological agents that are used to protect crops from insects, weeds, and infections. Acutely toxic organophosphate (OP) pesticides are widely used in the United States.
What crops are pesticides used on?
Pesticides are used on fruits, vegetables, wheat, rice, olives and canola pressed into oil,and on non-food crops such as cotton, grass, and flowers. The OP pesticides malathion and chlorpyrifos are commonly used on all fruits, vegetables, and wheat. Pesticides are used on crops that are fed to animals, although residue from pesticides is generally not found in meat or dairy products.
How do people get exposed to pesticides?
The most common way most infants, children and adults are exposed to pesticides is by eating them on and in our food. Workers in agriculture and occupational settings touch and breathe in pesticides, putting them at risk for acute and chronic poisoning.
What are the health risks?
Most studies of the health effects of pesticides have focused on occupationally exposed people, like farmworkers and pesticide applicators. Acute OP pesticide poisonings result in symptoms like nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, dizziness, anxiety and confusion, which can be quite severe but are often reversible. There have also been many studies in groups of people who work with pesticides but who have not experienced acute poisonings serious enough to result in these kinds of symptoms. These studies have found that chronic, lower dose exposure is associated with respiratory problems, memory disorders, skin conditions, depression, miscarriage, birth defects, cancer and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. There have been fewer studies of people without known occupational exposures, but one study with a nationally representative sample showed increasing odds of ADD/ADHD for 8-15 year olds with increasing levels of OP pesticides metabolites in urine.1
Who is most at risk?
Fetuses, infants, growing children, pregnant and nursing mothers, and women of childbearing age are most at risk for adverse health outcomes from exposure to pesticides. Children are more at risk than adults because children eat more relative to their body weight than adults eat. Exposures during vulnerable periods of development can be particularly dangerous. These vulnerable periods include fetaldevelopment, infancy, early childhood, and puberty. Fetuses are exposed to pesticides through the mother’s diet. Infants are exposed through breast milk. Acute poisoning is a persistent problem among agricultural and occupational workers who handle pesticides and track them into their homes where family members get exposed. People who live near agricultural fields may be exposed by drift from aerial spraying.
What Fruits and Vegetables have the most Pesticides?
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) publishes the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce that identifies what types of produce are most likely to be contaminated with pesticides.2 EWG recommends eating organic versions of these ‘Dirty Dozen’ fruits and vegetables: apples, celery, sweet bell peppers, peaches, strawberries, nectarines (imported), grapes, spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, blueberries (domestic), and potatoes. In addition, EWG recommends organic green beans and kale. It is worth noting that pesticide residues can also be found in fruit and vegetable juices. EWG also lists 15 fruits and vegetables that are lowest in pesticides, making it safer to eat conventional versions. These include onions, sweet corn, pineapple, avocado, cabbage, sweet peas, asparagus, mangoes, eggplant, kiwi, cantaloupe (domestic) sweet potatoes, grapefruit, watermelon and mushrooms.
Is Organic Food More Nutritious?
A diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables provides optimal nutrition and dietary variety. However, no studies have shown direct health benefits or disease protection from eating an all organic diet. There is no conclusive evidence that organic food is more nutritious than conventional food. People eat organic food for other reasons than nutrition. For example, those who eat an organic diet are exposed to fewer disease-causing pesticides, and organic farming is more sustainable and better for the environment.3
